The Blame Game
by Lipush
Summary: The Hunger Games are all about tributes killing each other publically for the Capitol's amusement. But what if a tribute gets killed before actually entering the arena? In this 'Blame Game' all bets are off, and everyone's guilty until proven innocent.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: ****Excitement! This is my first "Hunger Games" fanfiction! So this idea came up to me while watching XWP and it's basically based on one of the episodes. Wouldn't be hard to miss, in case you watched the show. In case you haven't, then buckle up and enjoy the ride.**

**I don't own XWP or The Hunger Games trilogy.**

**Spoilers:**** the first book, the night before the 74****th**** arena.**

**Rating****: T**

* * *

**The Blame Game:**

* * *

**Chapter 1**

'Whoever decided on refilling the booze supply, should be given a prize,' Haymitch thinks as he gulps another mouthful of the bitter liquor. He's surely going to need it for tomorrow's show.

The 74th roll of the Hunger Games starts tomorrow, and not even clinging on the slightest of hopes of bringing one of them alive, is going to detach him from his favorite occupational hazard- AKA drinking till he faints.

He takes his time enjoying those rare moments of silence, the absence of Johanna's scowls and Chaff's croaks of intoxicated laughter. 'Take a moment to cherish all that, Haymitch,' he thinks silently, into the night, 'just a moment to…'

"HAYMITCH!"

Oh, hell.

Just what he needs.

"You rang?" he lifts his eyes tiredly, when Effie bursts into the room, all high hills and a radio-active yellow-green outfit, looking like a traffic-sign.

"Whell!" she is all dramatic, as usual, "I should have guessed!" she scolds, noticing him holding the bottle, "The children?" she asks after a moment.

"Hell if I knew…" he shrugs, "Probably trying to sleep, they still have 4 hours till showtime, and…what are you doing here, again?" her fake eyelashes are a physically painful sight, flashing and giving him the whiplash.

"If you must know…" she stamps her foot, then walks towards the leather couch, taking her seat, "I'm here to accompany my tributes on the last night of staying here."

He arches and eyebrow, "Since when do you do that?" he asks suspiciously.

"Since I got the feeling we have a chance of winning, this year," she folds her arms on her chest, emphasizing.

"Whatever."

"And, well…."

He waits, and she twists uncomfortably on the couch, "You remember the new common department they decided to open up this year…" she says.

He twitches his lips, fighting a grin; He can already guess what comes next. It was this year when they decided to open a "common lobby" for the tributes. It's a big, wide room, with two long passages which lead to the elevators, when they can just sit and interact with one another. Game-makers decided that letting the tributes have this "club" might help careers to form alliances better, they probably wanted to "spice things up" in the games.

Well, someone has to babysit.

"So, you're the last night's nanny, Effie?" he does laugh this time, "that's right up your alley, ha ha!"

Effie is not amused, pursing her lips like a fish, making the orange lipstick look even more ridiculous on her pale mouth, "I hardly find this amusing, Haymitch!" she growls, "Me, watching the careers? The girl from 2 is very unpleasant to be around! Did you know that?" Haymitch's laughter increases at that, no kidding! "And the girl from 4 is completely foolish! At least they could give me a more suitable way of passing my time, hmm!"

Haymitch's shoulder shakes a bit with amusement, and he asks, "Who signed you up for this, anyway?"

"That will be Plutarch Heavensbee." her eyes narrow in annoyance.

He'll have to invite Plutarch for a free round of scotch on him, that's what he'll do. "Loosen your corset, sweetheart," he says, "chill. Have a drink," and at her expanse he adds, "It's gonna be a big, big, big day tomorrow."

* * *

As Glimmer sits aside next to the corner table, stuffing another honey-muffin into her half-filled stomach, she sneaks side-glares at the big screen, her nose twists in disgust.

Cato and her district partner, Marvel, are comfortably half lying on the couch, completely comfortable, and unworried about tomorrow. Of course, they are career district, and don't have any real reason to worry. For years, they've been known for controlling the arena, everyone fear them.

But even knowing that, the career males' choice of passing the last hours before the games, is hardly considered "fun" in her book.

They watch a film that some in the capitol like to watch. She believes it's called "Horror Movie". Why on earth do Capitol citizens even enjoy those movies is beyond her. Maybe they see the Hunger Games in them, somehow.

Glimmer thinks they're revolting.

Clove, on her part, sits on one of the sided chairs, laughing with the boys at the gruesome parts of the movie, and Glimmer doesn't participate. Seriously, it's just gross.

"What is that even…. What _is_ that?" she calls from the other side of the room, abruptly.

Cato turns around and grins, "It's some greasy remake of a movie filmed before the dark days," he turns back at the part in which a small, terrifying blonde girl stabs someone in the face, her features demonic and eyes shining yellow, "Ts'called 'The Exorcist', ever heard of it?"

She shakes her head 'No'.

"Well, neither have I, but it's funny as shit!" another roll of laughter. Marvel and Clove follow suit.

"Well, if you don't mind, I'm gonna try and sleep," she rises up from her chair, about to cross the hallway, "Knock yourselves out with this trash."

She turns to the elevator, on her way to the first floor, when she hears an echo of amusement, some "Hahaha", and "Ewww," and before reaching the elevator, she hears Marvel calling after her, "Hey, Glimmer, I bet you can't barf pistachio cream like this girl!"

She rolls her eyes.

* * *

It's an hour later, when Effie thanks the universe when the careers finally part the Lobby, all three of them sending her murderous stares as they do. She thinks she notes some meaningful glare-exchange between the bulky, blonde one from district 2, and his partner, the scary girl with the knives.

'They'll probably share the room for the night', Effie thinks, disapprovingly. She needs to tell Haymitch and ask him to put some sense into Enobaria and Cheron, this is an unacceptable behavior.

* * *

As Peeta and Katniss look outside the window to the city-lights, silently consider how lucky those empty shell of people, the Capitol puppets are, they hear a noise coming from one of the rooms.

"Did you hear that?" Katniss asks her district partner silently, and he nods.

They both leave their current position, and exit the top floor.

* * *

It's the chilly breeze that wakes Haymitch from his place on the couch, the liquor finally taking affect, and he stirs awake, noticing Effie slightly snoring, lying on the couch next to him. She drools a bit, her body twists in a weird position.

It's the window, slightly open, and when searching around, wildly, Haymitch notices a shadow, a figure, disappearing in the hallway.

And a weird sound.

"Effie," he mumbles, pushing on her shoulders, "Effie, wake up…" he shakes her, "Effie! Rise and shine!" he calls, loudly.

She jumps alert, wiping her dripping cheek, "Uh, eh, wut? Happy Hunger Games!" she cries stupidly, eyes wide, forcing herself awake.

Haymitch chuckles, "You fell asleep, beauty queen," he grins, and Effie is about to say something when another noise comes from one of the floors, "What is that?" asks the escort, blinking in confusion.

"I dunno, you're the night's watcher, sweetheart," Effie's eyes narrow at that, "But I heard that, too, let's check this out."

They both stand, and leave the room.

When doing so, they hear whispers and soft noises, Haymitch recognize them belonging to the tributes, but can't identify his own kids among them, "I think it's coming from the common lobby," he tells Effie in the dark, "C'mon".

They step down the stairs, the muffled words of the children increase, and he suddenly hears a scream, and "Oh, MY GOD!"

'That can't be a good sign!' he thinks to himself, and among shocked voices he hears Peeta and Katniss, equally surprised at what they apparently all see in the lobby, once the lights flick on.

Effie stares. He stares. They all stare.

Right there, on the floor of the lobby, lies a girl, her hair blonde, eyes closed.

She's dressed in pink pajamas, with fluffy slippers.

Doesn't take a genius to figure out. It's one of the career girls. Glimmer, Haymitch guesses she's called. The sexy doll from district one.

And she has a knife sticking out of her chest.

Dead.

"Well, this isn't very festive!" Effie calls in protest.

* * *

"We're totally screwed," Johanna states the obvious.

Haymitch sighs, burying his head in his palm, shaking his head, disbelieving.

Never, in the history of the hunger games, something like this ever happened. Usually tributes wait for the games themselves to die… they don't usually end up like…well, this.

"Oh no, we're not screwed. That puffy stupid Barbie who looks like a cotton candy is the screwed one!" Cashmere fumes, pointing a finger at Haymitch, "and you're the one who's gonna have to answer to Snow!" she blames him.

"_Me_?! What the hell did _I_ do?" Haymitch backs off, defensively.

"You and your stupid escort were supposed to watch over the kids!" Gloss supports his sister, "And now one of my own is dead! Glimmer had a good chance of winning this thing, too! I hope 12's gonna pay for this mess-up!" he reproaches.

"Guys, relax," Seeder tries to reason with them, "No one could expect this to happen," Chaff nods dumbly at his partner-victor, and Cecilia exhales tiredly and says, "We're all going to have a huge problem soon. A tribute was killed tonight, and the games start tomorrow. Of course they'll need to tell all what happened, and find someone to take her place, but the bigger issue here is…who stabbed this Glimmer girl?"

District 9's male victor hurries in defense of his own, "Well, let's not start playing the blame game, here, shall we?" he glares at the unmoving form of the dead girl, "she could have had a heart condition."

Johanna rolls her eyes, and sarcastically interjects, "Right, Brainless. I bet you it grew that knife, too." She slaps him across the head, "moron."

"Hey, I didn't…" another victor tries and interfere, when Johanna adds something else, and then.

"Quiet."

They turn around, and are met with the white, ice-cold face of President Snow, all official, as usual. Behind him stands Seneca Crane, his funny beard twitching in nervousness.

President Snow glares down at the girl, and sighs, "Well, this is unexpectedly unfortunate," he says in an even tone, and his eyes wonder to Cashmere and Gloss, "one of yours?" he asks, indifferently.

"Sir…Yes, Sir," Gloss said, sending Haymitch a hateful glare.

"Ah," President Snow is surprisingly calm, "Well, in that case, I guess another tribute from district 1 is on order….Seneca?" he turns his head aside, and Seneca fearfully nods.

"I don't guess any of you have the….slightest idea how this girl was killed?" he raises a hairy, white eyebrow.

23 victors shake their heads 'No'.

"I see…" he comments, "Who was tonight's responsibility, Seneca?"

"That'd be Effie Trinket, Sir."

President Snow hums, scratching his head thoughtfully; "Pitty." He finally says.

Haymitch gulps.

"And the current tributes?"

"All locked in the 5th floor, Sir."

"Very well," Snow concludes, and then, to the victors, "You see, now. We have a problem here. This girl was killed, apparently intentionally, and we cannot afford such thing to happen under our watch. As it's sensible to presume one of the people in this building did it, I have no choice but punishing that person, now do I?"

The victors change meaningful looks. That can't be good.

"I need to know who that person is. And I trust that whoever this individual may be… he will be handed off, willingly, by all of you," Snow's snake eyes wonder to all present. "And they will be punished accordingly. Since we have about," he glances at a small, round, watch, "3 and a half hours till dawn, and you're the finest of the people, not to mention, those who were here while it happened, I trust you to being me the culprit of this rude act…" his eyes twitch, evilly. "Or else, I can promise you a painful punishment to all districts in the approaching Quarter Quell. Am I clear enough?"

Another look-exchange. Lots of nods.

"And trust my word. In case the killer won't be brought over till the games open, each and every one of the ones in this building will be personally punished. Arena or districts."

He then turns around, silently leaving the room.

"Well…" Finnick shrugs, turning to Haymitch, "I don't suppose you have some of that liquor left, man? It's gonna be a very long night."

* * *

**A/N- Did I get your attention?:)**

**Reviews are love!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N****-** **This story is supposed to be more fun than angst, so don't over-think it, folks.**** Occasional OOC is more than possible, but I'll try not to go too far with it.**

**Those who review get free cookies and a digital smooch!**

* * *

**The Blame Game**

* * *

**Chapter 2:**

The lobby falls silent, as the mentors take a minute to examine the scene in-front of them.

"Ok, so we got till sunrise to solve this thing," Haymitch says, turning around to take another sip of his liquor, "might as well get started."

Finnick folds his arms on his chest, impatient, "Figures," he mumbles, "Leave it to Snow to try and frame an innocent party." He shakes his head in disapproval.

"She was a total stranger," Cecilia says quietly.

Haymitch narrows his eyes, resting his glass on the glass table, "then I guess it's time we get acquainted."

"Where are you going?" Johanna huffs when he turns to leave.

Haymitch shrugs, "We may not have known her, but we have a couple of dozen of youngsters who did, so might as well get on with it."

They exchange worried looks, and soon enough, 24 confused children cross the hallway minutes after.

When noticing the body, some gasp in shock, which is kind of ironic, considering most of them will probably meet far worse fate then this, in a few hours.

Effie notices the little boy from district 4 turning a little green, and the small girl from 11, is her name Rue? Blinking rapidly, big Thresh squeezing her tiny hand, trying to hide her behind his back.

The somewhat strange looking, emotionless girl from 3 just stares, and Katniss visibly frowns. Peeta tilts his head, gaze mixed with worry and curiosity.

Haymitch offers the tributes a full, sarcastic smile, then says, "Well, since we're all here… I will try the easy way. Which one of you_, geniuses_, couldn't wait for the gong and had to finish this girl off now, hhm?"

Eyes start traveling around the room, as the tributes turn to gaze at each other, probably touring for the inner-detective they think they inhabit; Clove sent arrows with her eyes to all tributes, the career boy, Cato, folded his beefy arms on his chest, probably trying to look menacing, while the tall one, Marvel, just looked pissed.

"_Well_?"

Surprisingly enough, the only sound in the room was Haymitch's stomach, trying to digest the alcohol.

"Ok…." He turns around to look at the body, "Investigative Victors 101, my dear boys and girls," he clicks his knuckles dramatically, "first lesson," he points at the corpse, "look for clues."

"Mhhhm," Haymitch mumbles, behind him, Beetee removed his glasses to clean them, while Wiress just seems curious. "Interesting…"

"What?" the boy from 4, one of the youngest, is obviously both scared and fascinated.

"What do we see here?" Haymitch asks, gesturing around the body.

Next to Glimmer's right thigh is an electronic candle, and two more are lying, fallen, next to her shoulders.

Looking up, the candlesticks can be seen as part of the chandelier, "Now that's interesting," he says, "there are three candles on the floor," he blinks drunkenly, "but only two empty spaces on the chandelier…"

Katniss' forehead clear, "so…where did the third candle come from?" she asks quietly, and the tributes turn to look at her.

"Ah-Ha!" Haymitch's finger points the air, emphasizing the riddle, "first question unanswered."

"Hey, guys, check this out," The blonde tribute girl from district 7, who disappeared behind Blight a moment ago, re-appears, holding a leather bag, "I think that belonged to the girl, and it has all this stuff in, maybe it can help us."

She tosses the bag on the large wooden table and opens it, the others grouping around her.

"Where did she even get this bag?" Jason, one of the tributes, asks, "We're all supposed to come here with nothing but the clothes we have on us."

"And an occasional token, if we want," Beetee says usefully, the glasses again on his button nose.

Opening the bag, the girl from 7 starts pulling out the content, "Mhmm," she mumbles, "two large books," she puts them on the table, "two gold necklaces…" those join the books, "a box of condoms…. A box of condoms? Eww…" behind her, one of the girls giggles, "Geez, who did she even plan on… oh, never mind! And….one of these…" she twists her face as she pulls out a tiny fabric bag, "inside…" she turns it upside-down, reveling a bunch of tiny stones, "Stones? This girl was weird…" the rest have to agree. "And pretty much, that's it." She shrugs.

"Well, that was helpful," the girl from 9 says, "NOT."

Behind the group, Marvel rolls his eyes, "should have known…" he growls, and Cato turns to him, "Only a matter of time before this air-head did something stupid."

That takes Haymitch by surprise, "Don't tell me, kid…" he snorts humorlessly, "You knew eachother, right?"

Marvel then pauses, unsure of his next words. God knows, it's beneath him, to talk to one of 12 like an equal, but the idea of being punished for murder doesn't seem attractive, either- "Oh, I knew her," he says, "she was in my class, a crazy girl, suited perfectly for the Hunger Games," he says offhandedly, but then his eyes darken, as he adds, "A poster girl for our district, mind you," his eyes twitch, "like all of us, she was raised into luxury, being the best of the best. The sexiest, most successful. She wanted to "mark" herself in every way," all the tributes listen carefully, "There was this girl in our class, Riplet," he recalls, "She put an eye one of the boys Glimmer liked at the time, wouldn't back off. You know what she did?"

Haymitch is afraid to ask.

"She poisoned the girl's dog, and hanged its stinky copse on the school's fence."

The boy from 4 gasps. "Poor doggy!" he cries, and the tributes have to agree. Even Cato is surprised; he didn't know this chick had it in her. "Let's just say, it was one of her signature moves, she didn't like cats or dogs to begin with. And since every other kid in the district had a dog…well, you get the picture."

Ohh, yeah, they sure did.

"Who was the last one to leave this lobby?" Finnick asks, abruptly.

The three careers exchange meaningful looks as everyone turn to look at them. A frustrated sigh is heard, and then an angered, frustrated voice, "Alright, alright!" Clove admits, "It was me, I was the last one to walk out of here."

"Aha!" Chaff booms, "so you admit it!" he turns towards the body, "maybe you like those doggies a little too much…." He clenches his fists on his hips dramatically, "let me rephrase that…" he pauses for effect, "Glimmer here killed some pets, you got mad, now she's dead."

Haymitch raises an eyebrow at his friend, and Johanna rolls her eyes. Cecilia holds back a grin.

"Oh, C'mon, do I need to spell it out for you? Clove in the lobby with a knife!" Chaff insists, waving his arms in emphasis.

Clove growls, "Oh, get a clue!" she shoots back, "We're a pack! Do you really think I'd hurt one of the careers? You're delusional, plant-boy!" she's rude and mocking by now, "I didn't even know about it till Marvel told us the story now," she spits, "Besides, I don't even like dogs!"

"So you say…" Chaff insists.

"Alright, alright!" Haymitch hurries to back it up, slapping Chaff's chest, earning him an "Hey!", "No one's blaming anyone until we get some facts straight. Now let's take a breather for a couple of minutes, and think this through. Everyone, go rest for 5 minutes, let the adults here do some thinking, alright?"

* * *

As Cecilia and Finnick stay to examine the silent body again, maybe looking for some more answers, a voice calls from behind them, "Hey, look what I found!"

They turn around, to see the boy from 10 with a small package, the mentors and tributes surrounding him to have a look. Neither of them notices the uncomfortable, hand-in-the-cookie-jar look that appears on the face of a young 16 year old girl.

As the boy opens the package, they all inhale at the sight. Inside the fabric rest a small amount of tiny shining objects. 7 in number.

"Diamonds," Peeta blinks, confused.

"Not just any…." Katniss adds, "District 1 diamonds… token, maybe?"

"Yes, token…found in Finch's room… care to explain that, Finch?" the boy from 10 snaps.

The tall girl with the fox-like-face from district 5 looks around uncomfortably, saying nothing. Well, considering that Foxface is one of the smartest among them, it's kind of surprising she got caught stealing. Is she losing her edge? That's won't help her in the arena.

"Well, Finch is known for having the eye for expensive stuff," her partner in district comments usefully, and she shoots him an annoyed glare. "Ok, ok!" she finally says, "I admit it, I saw some of those diamonds, and…they called out to me, alright?" she fesses up, "But what does it matter, we have a killer among us, and I'm not talking about Hunger-Games killer!"

"People have killed for a lot less than diamonds, Finch," Beetee says in a calculated voice.

Foxface doesn't budge, "Yes, and in the arena, one of us is going to live, while the other dies, so each option given, me killing her would have been redundant. Besides, I'm not a cold blooded killer! otherwise, I would have been the part of the careers! Do you see a "ruthless murderer" written anywhere on my 5 points score rap-sheet?"

"Mhmmm…" district 6 boy says, "Professional thief… escape-artist extraordinaire… MASTERMIND OF DISGUISE!" the last part is says in a loud shout, and Finch blurts out "shutup!", obviously having enough of this.

The boy doesn't give up, "I bet you anything, that hair is a wig!" he pulls on her scalp forcefully.

"Awww!" Finch yelps, then punches the boy straight in the face. He falls backwards with a thud.

"Finch could have robbed her after she was dead," Cato shrugs, thinking, while District 6's girl kneels down, trying to slap her partner awake.

"After sh…. Now you listen here, buddy! I've got my standards!" Finch points at her threateningly, "And…"

"And she wasn't the only one to go through Glimmer's stuff," Katniss interjects indifferently.

"Whe…what do you mean," Thresh asks, blinking.

Katniss sighs, "In the bag there was an empty box," she says, "and since we've just learned Glimmer didn't just carry empty stuff in her bag, it's not a career thing to carry more than you need, anyway, then…"

"What was inside?"

Peeta shrugs, "A piece of paper," he says, "torn paper, Katniss and I were just talking about it, maybe someone took the other piece."

"Finch could have taken that, too!" The boy from 10 jumps and says.

"F'course I _could have_!" Finch replies sarcastically, but Haymitch brushes off the option, "No, it's obviously not her style," and Finch nods at that, "whoever did it was sloppy. And obviously was trying to throw us off."

Wiress blinks, "How can you tell?"

"I might be a drunken loser, but I do notice the little things, more than others," Haymitch says, "like the tiny fact that Glimmer hated lavender, or anything concerning it." He grabs the piece of torn paper, shoving it towards her, "smell it."

She takes a sniff, but there is no need to, the room leaks with the scent, "Smells lavender-ry, alright," Cecilia approves.

"Lavender perfume," Finnick concludes.

An uncomfortable snort is heard from behind him, "But that's….just ridiculous!" it's seeder giggling nervously, "the only one here who tends to love lavender here is…" she gulps.

Like in slow motion, 47 faces turn to their right, to the tribute standing at the other corner, like a deer caught in a crossfire.

"_Me_?" little Rue squeaks.


	3. Chapter 3

**The Blame Game: Chapter 3**

Chaff darts in protest. "Oh, wait, wait, wait a minute, now," he calls, detaching from the group to stand next to his young tribute, all fake-humor aside and forgotten. He places his good arm on the child's shoulders, frowning, "Sure, it looks bad… Rue in the lobby with a knife, but… it's obvious that what may seem as…-"

"Obvious?" Rue's astonished gaze wander up to look at him in confusion, "Chaff, this thing only smells of lave-"

The mentor slaps her mouth shot, and hisses- "Will you shush? I'm trying to help you out here…!" then he drops his hand, and Rue just blinks in further confusion but is clever enough to keep quiet.

"Now, it's ridiculous to even consider the possibility of Rue killing this girl. Heck, Glimmer must have been twice her size, and at the time this slaying took place," Chaff determines, "My tribute's whereabouts were completely, unequivocally, and without a doubt _unknown_." His last word is emphasized with a pointy finger at the group.

Seeder sighs. This night just can't get any worse, and Chaff seems to be burying their grave even deeper, instead of actually helping.

Blinking, realizing how what he just said may sound, he leaves no room for interpretation- "Which is nothing like saying she was anywhere near the common lobby at the time of the murder."

"Oh, ok," Rue lets in, "I admit I found her odd, the way she acted and behaved in the training center… she freaked me out, just a little," the girl shrugs, "But I don't touch other tributes' stuff, no matter how they smell."

Seeder nods once, "See, Haymitch?" she argues, "You can't seriously suspect Rue."

"Until we found out who did this, I'd say it is fair enough to suspect anyone…" Haymitch narrows his eyes and looks around.

"This is getting absurd," Blight points out, then with a nod to Johanna and the other mentors, he leaves to the bathroom.

Haymitch growls, "Finnick," he calls, "It was my district's responsibility, but I'm gonna need your help," the Bronze colored hair boy nods at him acceptingly, "Johanna, yours, too," the two turn to accompany Haymitch, "And Chaff…?" the district 11 mentor turns to look at him expectantly, "Don't need your help."

Chaff nearly pouts at that.

"The rest of you.. stay on this floor. Don't try to be smart or brave about it. Snow will not find it amusing." He then turns to leave.

* * *

"This is crazy…" Finnick thinks aloud as they step back into the common lobby, "Those kids aren't the wisest gang, I give you that, but… they must have known how foolish it is to stab a tribute _before_ the actual games start…" he scratches his head, "I find it hard to grasp they'd do _this_…"

"Well," Johanna moves to stand in front of the young girls body, taking it in momentarily, "tributes can be very unexpected," the then looks up to him, and a mischievous grin appears on her face suddenly, "not that I'd know anything about that," she says half-jokingly.

He smiles back, just when Haymitch calls, "Hey, look at that."

On the other side of the room, basically in the corner, Haymitch notices what seems to be some sort of a metal pipe. "_Now that is weird_!"

"Not so much," Johanna shrugs, "I recognize this, it's a testing-pipe. They use it with the ovens' check up."

"Yes, but," Haymitch ponders, "Do you see a heating system in this lobby? No. A fireplace? No. A stove? No! Do you know what that means?"

Johanna and Finnick exchange looks, then turn to stare at Haymitch again. "No…" they say, frowning.

"Hmm," Haymitch hesitates, "me neither."

Johanna shakes her head at him, while Finnick shrugs and Haymitch turns to test the surroundings again. It's when he notices the furniture's' covers are placed oddly, and the floor is quite dusty, though he can recall the Avoxes taking care of the cleaning earlier this morning.

Haymitch bends down next to the body. The knife is positioned brutally, he notices, and right beneath the girl's right ear, he notices a red mark he sure wasn't there before. What is it? A rash? A bruise? Was she hit there before being stabbed?

"The door leading to the main hall was locked," Johanna says usefully, cutting his line of thought, "and from the_ inside_… now the question remains, who locked it behind them? Glimmer, or our culprit?"

"Interesting observation," Haymitch responds. "However, for some reason… I believe the answer lies in the knife itself…"

* * *

"I have to admit," Peeta says quietly, as they sit on the floor in the western dorm, next to the common room, "This is the strangest experience I've ever been through or had." He turns to look at Katniss, who paces the room aimlessly, "I bet that wasn't what you volunteered for, huh?"

Katniss chuckles humorlessly, "You can say that again," she shakes her head. "Even for 'Hunger Games' standards, this was never heard of."

"Wonder what they're gonna do to us if we won't find whoever is behind this," Peeta blinks, voice low.

"Does it even matter?" Katniss all but spits out, "We're going to die in the arena anyway… Haymitch can play the guessing game all he wants, at the end of the day we're not going to live this through. I don't know where he got this optimistic-feeling all of a sudden. None of this matter, we're all dead, anyway."

She promised Prim to whatever it takes to come home. But she's just being realistic, here.

"Maybe it's not about living this through, maybe it's about the actual game…" Peeta thinks.

"What do you mean?"

"Whoever stabbed her is going to be punished, we know that, right?" Katniss nods at him, "And I bet this guy knew the consequences of his actions, weather he's smart, fool, or just pure insane. And we know Snow's not going to kill him. He won't kill tributes randomly, because he'll have to explain how all of his happened."

"He will have to explain it anyway," Katniss passes a hand through her hair, "A career girl died, a very popular career girl. The sponsors will notice her absence immediately. It's not something you can hide."

"Of course not," Peeta doesn't doubt it. "But as long as it stays in the shadows, Snow can pretend all of this was a sad accident. Him getting rid of another tribute will raise a lot of eyebrows. And whoever did this, I bet they thought of that. That in itself is a clue. Finding out whoever has the guts of pulling something like this off, under the Capitol's nose… That will tell us a lot about this tribute. Including the option of taking them down."

Katniss can see where he's going with this. "Yes," she says, "And we have exactly…" she looks at the far wall, "Two hours and fifty-three minutes to figure this out, and-"

A weird sound it heard suddenly. Katniss tilts her head at Peeta, who frowns.

"You hungry?" she raises an eyebrow.

"Eh…" Peeta's eyes travel across the room, "No, not really…"

"Your stomach just growled."

Peeta's frown only deepens, "No, it didn't."

"Pretty sure it did."

"Katniss," Peeta sighs, "I'm not hung-"

"Wait," Katniss raises a hand to shush him, "there it is again."

Peeta stops all movement to listen, and sure enough, a small, rumbling side is heard somewhere to their left, right beneath the old royal furniture.

It's not a growling stomach, it's…. "It sounds like a buzz or something," Peeta says. He gets up from the current position, and both he and Katniss approach the couch.

Then Katniss inhales. She recognizes this noise. But no. It can't be. This must be a nightmare. A bad dream. Sure enough, she's going to wake up, and see Prim smiling at her from their shared place in the bed, in their house at district twelve. It's all just a bad dream. Because there's just no way that she's stuck here, with 23 kids aiming to kill her, a shallow Capitolite plastic-doll, a useless drunk and…. _Him_.

She lift's the couch's pillows at once, and gasps. Oh heavens, this _is_ real, she thinks as she takes the first look at the source of the riddle. Surely, the noise wasn't Peeta's stomach rumbling. Wasn't a rumble at all, but a purr.

Katniss' upper lip arches in a snarl, as she stares at one of her worst enemies. Peeta, on the other hand, smiles fondly at this wicked nemesis.

"Well. Hello." He says, arms reaching forward. "How did _you_ get here?"

It's Katniss turn to growl, as she stares at the vicious creature.

"I really should have cooked you." She says, voice threatening.

Buttercup licks his paw in response.

* * *

"You brought _your cat_ here?" District 4 girl snaps in irritation, "What on earth i_s_ this? The friggin' Panem-circus?"

Katniss crossed her arms on her chest, "This is _not_ my cat…" she answers, annoyed, "He belongs to my sister, Prim. I have absolutely _no idea_ how he got on the train in the first place. For all I know he came to piss me off, throwing me off my game, so to speak."

Clove chuckles wickedly, "You keep getting yourselves in trouble, 12," she seems to enjoy this, almost, "first the escort, now obviously breaking the rules with this thing," she gestures at the cat, currently in Peeta's arms, as Katniss refused to touch it (not that he would allow her, anyway). "It's going to be so much fun, watching you guys being tortured in the arena…" Katniss narrows her eyes at that, "too bad you're probably both gonna die before we get you, but, well… a girl can dream…"

"Can't you kick this thing out of here?" District 10 numbly-looking girl covers her mouth and nose, staring at where Peeta is, with Buttercup in arms, "I'm allergic to cats. Plus, he has mean-looking face."

Katniss agrees with her whole-heartedly.

"Who, this guy?" Peeta inquires, scratching buttercup behind said half-eaten ear, "He's nothing but a friendly furr-ball. Aren't you?" he looks down at him, "You're a good kitty-kitty. You are! Yes you are, you!"

Buttercup purrs at Peeta. Figures. Katniss rolls her eyes.

She never tried cat-soup before.

Now she wonders.

"Oh, ok." Peeta surrenders, "I'll find a place for him where he can do no damage." And with that, he waltzes off the room with the beast.

* * *

"I still say it was _Clove_ in the _lobby_ with the _knife_!" Chaff insists, hands curl into tight fists, eyes sparkling in determination.

Clove's teeth snap at that, her gaze menacing, but Brutus responds in her place, "Will you cut that _out_?!" he thunders at Chaff, "Didn't we already mention that Snow has ears everywhere? This isn't a game, you know!"

"Oh, yeah?!" chaff stands his ground, "Well, none of this would have happened if-"

"Alright!" Haymitch reappears in the room, Johanna and Finnick in tow, "Who was the last one to hold this?" he waves the sharp object in-front of the group. The knife he pulled out of Glimmer's chest.

It's the round knife. While the short-blade knives were many in numbers, and the long-handled ones, too, the round knife was unique in the training center. One of a couple.

Who was the tribute to bring a rare knife from the training center up to the living-floors?

Each and every one of the tributes look at each other suspiciously. The silence is intense, and then, "T'was me." Clove says with a shrug. "I brought this knife from downstairs. Wanted to check out the blade. What of it?"

"See? See?!" Chaff jumps enthusiastically. "I told you! It was _Clove_ in the _lobby_ with the knife the whole time! I-"

"It was not!" Clove turns to him in anger, "I didn't touch her!"

Just then, they notice a fairy-like escort invading their line of sight, "Well," Effie says, entering the room, looking around, "From the heated conversation, I guess you didn't find whoever is responsible for this rude action, yet?" she asks needlessly.

"Nice of you to finally make an appearance!"Cato all but snorts in anger, "and no, we didn't," he says, few feet from him, Haymitch looks at Effie with obvious disappointment written all over his face, "And this should really worry you, escort. Snow is not going to cut you any slack. You should be the first one to cooperate here. Besides-"

"-Alright, alright," Haymitch cuts in his lecture, "we're wasting time here," he then turns to the murderous, unstable fifteen-year-old, "Need I to mention, Clove, how problematic is the fact that the last knife you've touched, the last one to touch is, was sticking out of her chest?"

"In her heart, you mean," Cecilia corrects him innocently.

"No, in her chest," answers Haymitch, "About 3 centimeters bellow her heart, but was enough to kill her… _if she hadn't already been dead."_

The tributes glare at him in obvious shock. Even the careers seem surprised. Effie looks at Haymitch with suspicion. "You say the knife didn't kill her?"

"That's right."

Effie blinks nervously. Gloss bursts with sudden sarcastic, humorless laughter. "Well, that's just _perfect_, 12!" he accuses, "so instead of wrapping everything up, you just bring more questions to make things worse!"

"No, he isn't." Effie speaks again, her gaze on a far point in the room, eyes unfocused.

"Huh?" the group asks all together, Haymitch looking at her awkwardly.

"He isn't," Effie repeats, gulping, "Because _I _killed Glimmer."

* * *

TBC.


	4. Chapter 4

**The Blame Game:**

* * *

**Chapter 4:**

* * *

Haymitch is kneeling next to Effie, who rests on the couch, uncharacteristically quiet. The rest of the tributes are focused on her, some in shock, others in mischievous satisfaction. "What do you mean, you killed her?" he screeches. "You couldn't have! At the time she was killed, you were dead to the world, fast asleep! I was with you the whole time!"

Effie clicks her tongue. "I know." She shakes her head. "But if it wasn't the knife, then it had to be me!" she insists.

Katniss frowns, and Peeta finally asks, "What are you saying?"

Effie sighs. "Look…" she says, "I'm not proud of it, but I may be at fault for some… ethic violations this round."

"Ethic…" Cecilia parrots, "violations?" She blinks. "In what way?"

Effie releases a sigh. "I knew The Careers were planning on targeting my tributes." She looks at them with obvious contempt. Both Cato and Clove admit to nothing, but their gazes shoot arrows across her way. "And my tributes this year are really….extraordinary…" She blinks at her star-crossed-lovers with affection filling her features. Peeta's heart calls out to her, and even Katniss seems affected. "I had enough of their plotting…so I thought, it's time to even the odds a little bit…" Suddenly, she pulls out a metal bottle, laying it on the couch. "So I put some of Chaff's gravy recipe in her training water-flask." She twists her face.

Cecilia gasps. Seeder shudders. Finnick mumbles "Ew!" and behind them, Chaff stands with the biggest grin splattered across his face.

Haymitch grabs the flask, keeping it away from his body as if it may come to life and bite him. "That's _inhumane_!" he growls, horrified.

"It was only enough to give her the trots for the first couple of days of the arena, not enough to kill her!" Effie clarifies, before sudden fear overtakes her. "Unless… she was allergic to it… and with the rash you found on her neck, it has to be the reason! Which means… I _am_ the killer…" she mumbles, frightened.

Cato and Marvel exchange meaningful looks at that statement, a second before Cato bursts in, "Should have known it was you the whole time," he basically growls, reaching to grab her arm. "I guess there's poetic justice in this." Next to him, Clove smirks. "Now… we'll take you to Snow and—"

"No!" Haymitch and Chaff call simultaneously, which is enough to stop Cato in his tracks. Chaff stammers, "If anything… it's my recipe, so I'll be the one coming clean to Snow."

Haymitch shoots him a glare, then turns to Cato. "Nobody is coming clean or being turned in to anyone," he directs. Grabbing at the flask, he shakes it once. "This is as full as it was yesterday!" he claims, then throws the metal bottle at Gloss. The victor nods at his sister, approving. Cashmere takes a sniff, twisting her face at the smell. "Yuck," she mumbles, then sighs. "Well, obviously, my tribute hadn't touched this crap." she rolls her eyes. "Seems like you're off the hook, Barbie."

Effie's face stays emotionless and unreadable. Then Jason interjects: "Too bad we can't say that about the rest of us." His gaze is fixed on the high wall. "Look at the time."

They do. Indeed, Haymitch understands, they're running out of time, and not any closer to narrowing this thing down than they were an hour ago.

"Look," he says evenly, "we don't have a lot of time." He rubs his right temple and continues, "Which means, I'm gonna need some straight answers."

"Right!" Chaff nods his head dramatically.

"Starting with _you_!" Haymitch points at his friend callously.

"Me? Pfft," the victor huffs, looking around nervously. "What have I got to hide?"

Haymitch arches an eyebrow second before reaching his arm to pull something from underneath Chaff's belt. A wrinkled piece of paper. "Nothing but this?" he calls, waving the note around in emphasis.

Chaff emits a sound of protest, trying to reach and snatch the paper back from Haymitch's grasp. "Hey!" he calls, but Haymitch evades his hands. "Give it!" he yells, half whining.

Haymitch lifts his arm, the note now clearly out of Chaff's reach. "Now this has been missing from Glimmer's things since we first unpacked them," he determines, his glare still fixed on his friend. "I wouldn't mind betting that you know more than you're letting on…"

Chaff turns slightly red, taking two slow steps back. "Uh….Ohh…. Gueeuh…." he mumbles awkwardly, like a boy found with his hand in the cookie jar. That's when Marvel grabs at his shoulders from behind.

"Where do you think you're going…" his whispers dangerously, eyes wide, "…_killer_?"

"Ah….oh…" he tries, then snaps, releasing himself from Marvel's clutches. "Ok, ok!" he gives in. "Since it doesn't matter anyway…" He rolls his eyes. "Open the note, Haymitch," he says. "See what it reads."

"Mhmm," Haymitch mumbles before unfolding the note. There, with soft black ink, is a question. "'Are you in?'" Haymitch reads aloud.

"Are you in?" repeats Wiress. "What does it mean?"

Some of the tributes shift their poses uncomfortably at that, much to Haymitch's attention. "Ok, fellows," he folds his arms on his chest. "I don't know what the big idea is, but clearly some of you know what this is about…" He arches an eyebrow. "So unless you want to get screwed over by Snow personally, it's time you all come clean."

The girl from district 10 releases a sigh, and after giving her one of his disapproving glares, Aldeen's shoulders drop. "The note was sent by me," she admits. "We wanted to know if district 11 was trustworthy."

Haymitch makes a face. "Trustworthy? Trustworthy of _what_?!"

The short girl's lips stretch into an ominous smile, before replying, "Of being part of the plan…" At the rest's curious eyes, and her district partner's nod, she continues, "You see, not only the Careers can play dirty…"

* * *

_5 days earlier…_

_Timmer growled, ignoring Aldeen's criticizing glare. "Will you relax, already?" She lands on the soft sofa at the 10th floor lobby. "Almira will notice something's different…"_

_"I don't care!" he snarls. "Did you see what happened back at the training center? District 10's going to be this annual laughing stock! And now…"_

_"And now, nothing," Aldeen replies, jumping off of the couch. "You think anyone cares? It's not like we're surrounded by sponsors, here. Not after that girl from 12 wooed them with her whammy."_

_"And I guess it has nothing to do with those Career thugs acting like they own the place."_

_She rolls her eyes. "Well of course you're right, but those are The Careers! They can do whatever they want!" she protests, then takes a second to think, before smiling. "But what that little girl did back there, taking that knife, driving Cato crazy… that was kinda epic…"_

_"Right," Timmer agrees, "and if a little brat has the courage to stand up to Cato, why are we afraid of him?"_

_She snorts. "Oh, I don't know, maybe he's a six-foot tall psychotic guy who swore to butcher us all in less than a week?" She sinks on the couch again. "I was positive that was the main reason…"_

_"Yes, but…" He tilts his head. "We're still in training… not the arena… and there's no reason for us to take his crap here…. And if we stand up to him now, maybe he'll realize we won't tolerate being jerked around." He shrugs._

_"Huh." Aldeen ponders, "As crazy as it sounds… oh, what the hell, it's not like we have anything else to lose, right?"_

_He smiles wickedly, satisfaction written on his face. "So… don't supposed you have a plan…?" She arches an eyebrow._

_"Oh, but I do…" he whispers. "But we're going to need the help of the other tributes."_

* * *

Cato seethes at them, "So I guess that's the answer to the crap going on at our floor?"

Cecilia frowns. "Crap? What crap?" she inquires.

"Oh, you just name it. Gear going missing from the Career's training spot." Behind Clove, Finch smiles to herself.

"Lights flicking on and off on our floor," Marvel adds in irritation, as the girl from 3 is suddenly very interested in her fingernails.

"And, the 'best part'…" the female tribute from district 4 hisses. "For some reason, three days ago my shampoo started to smell like _fish goo_!"

Peeta holds back a chuckle. Jason snorts. This is hilarious!

"Ahh," Finnick interjects usefully. "So that's what it was…"

Haymitch presses two fingers to the bridge of his nose. They _really_ don't have time for this. "So you were planning practical jokes at each other's expense… It's _amazing _just how much _I don't care_…unless you decided to take the practical jokes to a whole new level…?"

Timmer raises both palms outward and exhales, eyes wide, "Whooah, man. Nothing like that. We know the rules."

Aldeen shakes her head. "It was just a bunch of tributes trying to let off some steam," she defends. "Finch, Greta, Timmer, Skyton and I were on the sixth floor when this girl was killed. We got at least three Avoxes to witness it." The teens in question all nod in agreement. "We didn't touch this girl, dude."

Haymitch releases a puff of air. "You were trying to form an alliance." It's not a question.

Skyton nods again. "We were considering it. That's why we stayed up so late. That's where they found us when we were called in."

"So the note…" The victor turns back to Chaff.

"Asked if we were in on the plan…and the alliance," Chaff answers, for once a little more seriously. "I didn't know about their plan for The Careers, and it was sure as hell a 'no-no' for the arena… I mean, Thresh here is a lone player." Big Thresh folds his arms on his chest threateningly. "And I don't trust any of them with little Rue, so…"

"So…" Haymitch continues, "still doesn't explain your behavior."

"Actually, it does…" Thresh hums, his voice surprising even nearby Marvel, who takes a long step back. "After they didn't get the answer they were looking for, that little gang came up to me straight, after trying with Rue…They wanted me to cooperate with them."

"Then what happened?"

"He pretty much gave us the boot." It's Aldeen to respond. "Told us to get lost. But…he _did _agree to do something for us, though…" She smiles.

"Oh?" Johanna asks. "What was that?"

"To keep an eye on Glimmer," answers Skyton. "You see, she was acting weird for the last couple of days. At first we thought nothing of it. This chick was weird by nature. She kept going through the rooms, moving furniture around, opening and shutting doors. It might have had something to do with her disappearing diamonds, I guess. But we had the feeling it was more than that going on. Whatever it was, she seemed like a girl _on a mission_."

"And a Career on a mission is bad news for us."

"So I kept an eye on this chick." Thresh shrugs. "And I told Chaff about it."

"Yes," Chaff confirms, "and I went off to check the first floor for myself, to see if something was wrong…"

"And when was that?" Haymitch asks.

Chaff scratches his head. "Late at night, I guess."

"So you admit it!" Finnick yells. "Good radiance, Chaff! Don't tell me you killed that girl over some stupid unsuccessful alliance scheme!"

"Oh, please!" He turns to look at Finnick, furious. "I didn't lay a hand on her! And you should know that better than anyone!"

"What do you mean?" Katniss asks suspiciously.

"Only that I wasn't the last person to visit the first floor, _or_ the common lobby!" He stares at Finnick accusingly.

"You mean…you saw her with Finnick," Blight says.

Finnick narrows his eyes at Chaff, then turns back to Haymitch. "I'll tell you what happened," he says.

* * *

_About four hours ago…_

_Chaff's flashlight flickers on and off repeatedly. "Dangit," he mumbles, smacking the small metal, but it's no use. "Stupid batteries."_

_'There's really nothing there,' Chaff thinks to himself. What did Thresh expect to find here, exactly?_

_It seems like The Career pulled one hell of a party here last night, but… nothing really out of the ordinary for them…_

_Chaff's about to call off the little mission when he hears footsteps. "Crap!" he mumbles, tiptoeing towards one of the exits._

_The light flicks on, and that's when Chaff notices a tall, blonde figure entering The Common Lobby. Glimmer, the female district 1 tribute. She comes to a halt in the middle of the room. "You want to tell me you know nothing of her plan?" she says, then turns around._

_From behind the wall, the answering voice is one he recognizes well. "I'm telling you, Glimmer, you have nothing to fear from District 4. The alliance is strong as ever."_

_'Finnick?' Chaff is caught by surprise. What the…?_

_"There's a plot from some of the outline districts to stir up things in the arena. Trying to throw us off our game. Those pathetic wannabe winners are really losing it. I don't suppose you're part of this thing?"_

_"'F course not," Finnick says, approaching till she can basically breathe him in. "You know where our loyalties lie." His eyes sparkle._

_"But you've been following me for more than a few days…" She smiles wickedly. "You like me, Finnick Odair? Is that the reason?"_

_His eyes are on her lips. He smiles back. "Well," he says, "you're not a girl to say no to, so…" He caresses the side of her cheek, leaning in to touch his lips to hers…_

* * *

"Whaa…. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait…." Chaff cuts through the story, pointing at himself, "That's not what _I_ heard…" He protests, shaking his head at Finnick.

* * *

_"There's a plot from some of the outline districts to stir up things in the arena. Trying to throw us off our game. Those pathetic wannabe winners are really losing it. I don't suppose you're part of this thing?"_

_"'F course not," Finnick says, approaching till she can basically breathe him in. "You know where our loyalties lie." His eyes sparkle with menace._

_"Question is…where do yours?" he asks threateningly._

_Glimmer stays unperplexed._

_Finnick is right in her face. "Heard about your little plan to break the alliance on 4," he says, "and it wasn't Clove's idea. So let me tell you, if you for a minute think that we're going to be taken for fools…" A sparkling blade appears in front of her face."You're sorely mistaken."_

* * *

"Oh, c'mon!" Finnick chuckles uncomfortably. "That's pure nonsense! Are you going to believe this bozo or me?" He tries to joke it off, but falls silent as the tributes all fold their hands on their chests, in deep suspicion.

He's like a deer caught in headlights.

"So, Finnick Odair with Glimmer, alone, and with a knife…" Skyton says slowly. "Wonder what's wrong with _that_ picture."

It feels like time stands still.

Finnick sighs. "Crap," he finally says.

* * *

TBC.


End file.
